ADC Therapeutics and IntoCell have signed a development and licence option agreement

IntoCell, a South Korean biotech that is developing novel antibody drug conjugate (ADC) platform technologies, will provide proprietary drug-linkers developed using their proprietary Ortho-Hydroxy Protected Aryl Sulfate (OHPAS) system and payload modification technology under the terms of the agreement (PMT). ADC Therapeutics, a commercial-stage biotechnology company focused on developing next-generation ADCs, will conjugate its antibodies to IntoCell's drug-linker and conduct in vitro, in vivo, and toxicology studies.

Upon successful completion of the evaluation, ADC Therapeutics will have an option to license the technology to develop ADCs for up to six targets for global development and commercialization. IntoCell reserves all global rights for its platform technologies beyond ADC development for targets reserved by ADC Therapeutics and will receive a fee upon signing of the MTA. For each target option exercised by ADCT, IntoCell is also entitled to receive a target selection fee, potential development, regulatory, and commercial milestone payments, as well as royalties in the future upon successful achievement of each applicable milestone. "We are pleased to be collaborating with ADC Therapeutics, one of the leading companies in the ADC area.

We hope to leverage ADC Therapeutics' experience with the development and commercialization of its own ADC Zynlonta," said Tae Kyo Park, Founder and CEO of IntoCell. "IntoCell's linker is highly stable and soluble, and our modified payload has the potential to substantially improve the therapeutic window of various payload classes. We are excited to see how our drug-linker technologies will perform with ADC Therapeutics' antibodies." "IntoCell's innovative platform technologies have the potential to be valuable additions to ADC Therapeutics' toolbox as we continue to maximize our ADC platform," said Patrick van Berkel, PhD, chief scientific officer of ADC Therapeutics. "We look forward to evaluating our antibodies with IntoCell's drug-linker technologies in the pursuit of developing differentiated ADCs."

IntoCell was advised by PharmaVentures Ltd., a UK-based premier transaction advisory firm, for this collaboration and the ongoing partnering efforts for IntoCell's platform technologies and their lead programme, B7-H3 ADC. IntoCell has developed a state-of-the-art linker technology comprising of a novel self-immolative group based on Ortho-Hydroxy Protected Aryl Sulfate (OHPAS) chemistry that works with a wide variety of phenolic and non-phenolic payloads. The OHPAS linker was designed to accommodate a wide variety of functional groups and triggering groups. The OHPAS Linker can be triggered by methods that include enzymes (i.e., lysosomal), light, and pH. The resulting ADCs have shown high stability, solubility, and very fast payload release profiles.

IntoCell has also devised another ADC platform technology called Payload Modification Technology (PMT) in which temporary modifying groups have been incorporated into traditional payloads. PMT has improved therapeutic index of ADCs with significant reduction of normal cell's uptake, resulting in normal cells being minimally affected. By utilising PMT and OHPAS linker technologies, IntoCell has successfully delivered a preclinical candidate in the B7-H3 ADC programme. ITC-6146RO is the lead candidate that shows strong and long-lived potency in a variety of murine xenograft and PDX models with excellent safety. ADC Therapeutics is a commercial-stage biotechnology company improving the lives of those affected by cancer with its next-generation, targeted antibody drug conjugates (ADCs).